The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1887-08-18

Lnaue uitA hnout elgnt or nlne ieet blRn
He had on longtalled coat, made from 81
old saddle blanket, and this wac triinmet
with a rod saddle blanket cut up In strip!
and fastened about over tho cost. From
head TO foot he waa covered with beads
chains and aleiehbells, and when he walk
cd, atl the beads, chains aud bells tinkied
He reminded me Of Tecumseh going Il
battle. ,.i17r. GlE8' ~
This country seemed to DO almost
WITHOUT ANNALS. ,-a
1saw not single wild animal, except
ono squirrel, nnd that WAS a very smal
one. There was time when these plaint
were covered with butfalos, which once
covered tho North American continen,
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from
Mexico TO Alaska, 10 now virtually an e1.
tinct animal. One herd Of three hundred
Ia yet known to exist in British America
on the Peace River, and 1t Ia estimated
that there are as many as seventy OF the
animals yet Wild Ia the United States,
and except these, the bufsloes are q thing
Of the past. The Indians, even hundreds
Of years ago, had superstition that the
buffalo and the Indian would be eo.sx.
istent, and that when one passed from the
earth the others days would bs number.
ed. Viewed in the light OF present facts,
this seems almost like prophecy. 1t 10 no
easy thing to tell which will pass from
the earth frat, the red man or the buffalo,
but surely the days OF each are already
numbered. The brute will live on few
decades in the museums and geological
gardens; and the man will not utterly die
before that time, but will live on reserva-
lions and upon the charities OF civiliza.
ton, which, to him, is the same as the
geological garden is to the buffalo. y
One can scarcely rea!izs how recently
the butlaloes have roamed here and no "
rapid has been their destruction. l,
seems almost that some blight has de-
atroyed them, for one can hardly under.
stand how man in his wontonness could
exterminate 80 swiftly aud completely
1t Is now unlawful to kill buffalo in
British America; but a few years ago the
region was oyefrun by hunters land ad'
ventufers who slew the animals by tens o.
thousands, merely Tor their hides, or often
only for sport. It was this which has
wrought the destruction. The buffalo
was a clumsy beast and could not evade
end hide like the active deer, and for him
there was no escape when the huntel
came. The destruction has been wonder
tul. The white skelctona OF bufaloe:
may yet be seen about over the plsins
In places I could see as many as fifty
skeletons at one sight. These are now
being collected by traders and shipped tt
New York to be ground into bone inca
Tor fertilization. Vast ricks Of these bone!
are heaped along the road, ind train loadl
pass east nearly every day. ~
The footprints OF these animsls can ye
be seen in the soil. While was psasin,
over the great plain north oil Bow River
| cav hundreds of old paths coming dow1
from the north as lar ss I could see, ant
leading to- the river. There we're tn.
rosds by which the butialoes uaed to CONT
to the water for drink, and return again II
the pasture lands. The trails are deep il
the soil, and tell what multitudes;pt ami
msla trod there for centuries: Thespathl
run north and south, straight, and paral
lei to each other, almost 40 regular as th.
Streets Of city. They arc frequently bu
few. yards apart, but sometimes halt ,
mile. No.. s3.r
1t grows monotonous to travel for hun
dreds Of miles over plains that arc so near
ly the same, and one is glad when nigh
comes to put close to the scene. There
is something rare in sunset 80 far North
1t is peculiar in that one is not accus
toned TO see the SUI at 0 O'Clock at night
and even so late as IL o'clock to see the
twilight. The days here are full eighteen
hours long at this season Of the year, and
the sun is near down upon the horizon
Tor two hours before it disappears. It
sets far around toward the North, and the
light OF its rays may be seen on The high
clouds and mists for a long time after the
sun itself has passed from view,